One more big idea for Ohio education

Our view: Primary, secondary, higher ed need to work more closely together

The Repository

Writer

Posted Feb. 2, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 2, 2013 at 2:17 AM

Posted Feb. 2, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 2, 2013 at 2:17 AM

The issue: Seamless education for Ohio students

Our view: Primary, secondary, higher ed need to work more closely together

Gov. John Kasich’s education funding plan goes well beyond money in its approach to early childhood education, help for children with disabilities and children in poverty, and the role of charter schools and career centers, among other issues.

It is a plan of big ideas. This is precisely what Ohio needs, especially on the cusp of an

economic recovery that may be much stronger than just a return to the pre-recession status quo, thanks to the impact of shale drilling. A solid, forward-thinking education plan can help the state avert the possibility of a boom becoming a bust.

And big ideas are what Ohio needs as Kasich looks for a successor to Jim Petro, Board of Regents chancellor, who retired Friday.

Petro capped a distinguished career in public service with two years as chancellor during which he promoted, as the Stark Education Partnership has long promoted, initiatives to ensure a “seamless” education for Ohio children from kindergarten through college.

As the public radio project StateImpact reported this week, Petro at one time advocated a merger of the Ohio Department of Education, which governs primary and secondary education, and the Board of Regents, which oversees undergraduate and graduate studies.

“That has not happened,” StateImpact noted. “But last month the Board of Regents moved into the same building as the Department of Education, in what officials have said is a move to bring the state agencies closer together.”

That is a step forward. So is the proposal in Kasich’s school funding plan to strengthen the early-college option for high school students, which so many Stark Countians are taking

advantage of.

Now we’ll hope for a major initiative to advance the benefits of a seamless education from kindergarten through graduate school for Ohio’s children.